Sinker heads for straight knitting machines



July 5, 1955 J. J. WALLEY SINKER HEADS FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES .r m w w m M Q N HQE Q? N.

Filed Jan. 6, 1954 NVENTOR.

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July 5, 1955 .1. J. WALLEY SINKER HEADS FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 6, 1954 INVENTOR. kl

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United States Patent T SINKER HEADS FOR STRAIGHT MACHINES Joseph J. Walley, Shilling'to'n, Pa.

Application January 6, 1954, Serial No. 402,476

Claims. (Cl; 66 -110) This invention relates to sinker heads for straight k'nitting machines of the Cotton type commonly used in the commercial production of fashioned hosiery and the like.

In sinker heads of the kind referred to, the sinkers are constrained to endwise sliding movement in guideways jointly provided by transverse grooves in two separable elongate upper and lower bar components. As uneven wear of the guide grooves in these bar components takes place, loose play develops in the sinkers, with consequent formation of uneven fabric by the knitting machines. In order to correct the difiiculty, it has been necessary heretofore to completely disassemble the heads, to remachine the grooved guide bar components and to thereafter again reassemble the parts. This operation Was obviously tedious and time consuming and added very considerable to maintenance costs of the knitting mills, in addition to causing loss of production of the machine sections from which the heads were removed for reconditioning.

My invention is directed toward overcoming the above mentioned drawbacks. This objective is realized in practice, as hereinafter more fully disclosed, through provision of a sinker head in which the upper guide bar component can be adjusted relative to the lower guide bar component to compensate for wear from time to time, without necessitating disassembling of the head or its removal from the knitting machine.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows the top plan view of a sinker head constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 shows the end elevation of the head as seen from the left of Fig. l and drawn to a larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary broken out view of the left hand end of the head, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section, taken as indicated by the angled arrows III-III in Fig. 2.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are cross sectional views taken as indicated respectively by the angled arrows IV-IV, VV and VIVI in Fig. 1.

Figs. 7, 8 and 9, respectively show different perspective views of a pair of cooperative relatively adjustable Wedge elements provided for use as spacers between the ends of the upper and lower grooved sinker guiding and sustaining bar components of the head.

With more detailed reference to these illustrations, the upper and lower bar components of the sinker head are generally designated 1 and 2, the latter having apertured ears at opposite ends for rigid connection by screw bolts (not shown) to the frame of a straight knitting machine in a manner well known in the art. After common practice, the confronting faces of the bar components 1 and 2 are provided with spaced transverse guide grooves designated 3 and 4 in Fig. 4 in which grooves the top and bottom edges of the sinkers designated 5 are engaged.

The guide bar components 1 and 2 are vertically spaced at opposite ends by blocks 6, each formed, in accordlatented July 5, 1955 2 ance with my invention, by two superimposed sections 6a and 6b which are separately illustrated respectively in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, 10. As shown, these block sections 6:: and 6b are generally square and of wedge configuration and, as instanced in Figs. 2, 5 and '6, mee't'in a sloping transverse plane P at an acute angle to the hori zontal. The upper section 6a of each block 6 is adjustabl'e relative to the lower section 6b to vary the sp'acing of the upper bar component 1 of the head relative to the lower bar component 2, as may be required from time to time to compensate for wear, by means of headed screws 7 whereof the shanks pass freely through cleara'nce openings 8 in said upper section andthreadedly engage into aligning tapped holes 9 in said lower section, as best shown in Fig. 6.

The upper guide bar component 1 and the blocks '6 are clamped in position by cap bolts 10 of which the shanks pass down through apertures 11 adjacent the ends of said component and through openings 12 and "13 in the wedge sections 6a and 6b of said blocks and threadedly engage into tapped holes 14 in the bar component 2, as best shown in Fig. 5. It is to be particularly noted that the opening 12 in each wedge section 6a is made elongate topermit adjustment of said section relative to the section 6b without interference by the shank of the corresponding clamp bolt 10.

Dowel pins 15, driven down through snug fitting registering holes 16 and 17 respectively in the upper guide bar component 1 and in the lower wedge sections of the blocks 6 and into the lower bar component 2 of the head, are relied upon to keep these members accurately positioned in assembled relation, the wedge sections 6a being notched as at 18 in Figs. 7 and 8 to clear said pins as shown in Fig. 2.

Also in accordance with my invention, the upper guide bar component 1 is formed by two sections 1a and 1b, the former or top section being relatively thick and rigid and wedge shaped in cross section, and the latter or bottom section being relatively thin and flat. Threadedly engaged in the section 1a at longitudinal intervals between the clamp bolts 10 are screws 20, see Figs, 1 and 4, which bear downwardly upon the section 1b.

The usual verge plate designated 21 is secured to the upper guide bar component 1 of the head by cap screws 22 and is provided with clearance aperture 23 through which the screws 20 are accessible for screw driver application.

From the foregoing, it will be thus apparent that I have provided a sinker head in which the upper guide bar component 1 can be finely adjusted up or down relative to the lower guide bar component 2 for wear compensation, in a minimum of time and Without necessitating disassembling or removal of the head from the knitting machine. It will also be seen that, by means of the screws 20, fine adjustment can be made as may be required to compensate for any sagging or upward bowing of the lower section of the upper bar component.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A sinker head for straight knitting machines having upper and lower bar components with aligning transverse grooves in their confronting faces for sliding guidance of the sinkers between them; spaced blocks interposed between the bar components at opposite ends, each such block comprising two Wedge sections which meet in a sloping plane at an acute angle to the horizontal; and means whereby the wedge sections of the individual blocks can be adjusted relatively from time to time to vary the vertical spacing of the bar components and there by compensate for wear between the grooves of said bar components and the sinkers.

2. A sinker head according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting means for each spaced block comprises at least one headed screw whereof the shank passes horizontally through a clearance aperture in one section of the block and threadedly engages into the other section.

3. A sinker head according to claim 1, wherein the bar components are clamped together at opposite ends by cap screws whereof the shanks pass freely through apertures in the upper bar component and in the wedge sections of the respective wedge blocks and threadedly engage into tapped holes in the lower bar component.

4. A sinker head according to claim 1, wherein dowel pins are anchored in one bar component adjacent opposite ends and engage snugly through registering apertures in the other bar component to keep the two assembled with their grooves in accurate registering relation; and wherein the bar components are clamped together adjacent opposite ends by cap screws whereof the shanks pass freely through apertures in the upper bar component and in the Wedge sections of the respective spacer blocks and threadedly engage into tapped holes in the lower bar component of the head.

5. A sinker head according to claim 1, wherein the bar components are clamped together at opposite ends by cap screws whereof the shanks pass freely through apertures in the upper bar component and in the wedge sections of the respective wedge blocks and threadedly References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Brumbach Sept. 11, 1945 Parthum July 31, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 511,787 Great Britain Aug. 24, 1939 

